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The Opression of Women

Posted on: June 19, 2010 - 10:13am

Rich Woods

Posts: 868

Joined: 2008-02-06

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The Opression of Women

As a relationship educator, this is a Pet Peeve of mine....

One of the issues that often gets glossed over regarding Religion, is how virtually every faith manages to justify sexism, if not downright barbarism at the expense of women in the name of the Almighty Creator's will...as if the Invisible deity in the clouds believes that a vagina accords a secondary social status... we've seen this gender bias manifest itself through attire, income, socio/economic input and most of all... assigning the burden of guilt for sexuality...

But to whatever extent, every religios text (written by men, coicidentally) excuses rape, torture, and other inhuman, abhorrant acts against women. I am sure that some of the more eduacted people on this site can offer further examples...

As it was once exlained to me by a fundamentalist Christian... "God is a MAN...it says in the Bible that God Created Man in *HIS* own Image" ...to which, my reply was... "He must have had an enormous penis... because if we are created in his image, and if there is one consisant character trait in inherent in all Males... its that our Ego would never permit us to create an entire race of beings, and give anyone a Bigger Hog than we had... So I am figuring Milton Berle...and maybe a little Bigger than that, which might be the only plausible thing I have ever heard about religion... because that would definately make the big Fella "Almighty"...

I'm curious Rich, I know that all three Abrahamic religions are virulently anti female but are there any active religions that don't embrace this mentality ? I thought the religions that were spawned in the far east were not so patriarchal ?

I'm curious Rich, I know that all three Abrahamic religions are virulently anti female but are there any active religions that don't embrace this mentality ? I thought the religions that were spawned in the far east were not so patriarchal ?

Hey PDW...

Sorry for the delay... I forgot all about this thread... regarding your quesion, my answer is "I have yet to come across any"... But I wil admit that I have only a pedestrian knowledge of Far eastern Religions.... I For instance, I know many Sikhs here in NY/NJ... and part of the difficuluty they have told me they are having adapting to Western Culture is allowing their Daughters the freedom to not only date American boys, but to have to tolerate insolent daughters who don't want to have their marriages "Arranged"... China and Japan are also famous for their patriarchy... Hell, just watch the Joy Luck Club...

But I am also hopeful (as you appear to be) that faith doesn't accord violence against women *UNILATTERALLY*... and there might be some irrational belief system out there where the invisible deity doesn't resent women for his own erectile dysfunction...

In America at least, Christianity is way more popular with women than men. The religion as practiced here is highly repressive of men and especially male sexuality. There are only a few exceptions like the fundamentalist Mormons that force 13 y.o. girls into marriages.

“Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful.” Seneca

How much is the sexism/misogynism discussed in the thread's OP centered heavily on the areas and local cultures in which it is found, and not universally bound to any particular faith?

You'll note that there's plenty of areas and cultures on Earth that are inherently anti-female to the point of barbarity without any justification or correlation from a faith or spirituality; so I ask... "Isn't misogyny more about the people rather than spirituality itself?"

I've read a near exact duplicate discussion on AN. And I gave the same response. The OP'er there (apparently some sort of professor) see's it as their duty to tar-brush religions as inherently misogynistic. And no, I'm not a faith-apologist. I'm just trying to preempt any valid counterpoints theists might bring up to a discussion like this -that's what I do, after all; play devil's advocate with many commonly held assumptions that other atheists apparently have in abundance. Yes, I feel like I'm having to hold my breath just typing this.

“A meritocratic society is one in which inequalities of wealth and social position solely reflect the unequal distribution of merit or skills amongst human beings, or are based upon factors beyond human control, for example luck or chance. Such a society is socially just because individuals are judged not by their gender, the colour of their skin or their religion, but according to their talents and willingness to work, or on what Martin Luther King called 'the content of their character'. By extension, social equality is unjust because it treats unequal individuals equally.” "Political Ideologies" by Andrew Heywood (2003)

Good point EXC. There are plenty of female muslims here that practice their beliefs of their own volition. Are they... "gluttons for punishment"?

“A meritocratic society is one in which inequalities of wealth and social position solely reflect the unequal distribution of merit or skills amongst human beings, or are based upon factors beyond human control, for example luck or chance. Such a society is socially just because individuals are judged not by their gender, the colour of their skin or their religion, but according to their talents and willingness to work, or on what Martin Luther King called 'the content of their character'. By extension, social equality is unjust because it treats unequal individuals equally.” "Political Ideologies" by Andrew Heywood (2003)

Good point EXC. There are plenty of female muslims here that practice their beliefs of their own volition. Are they... "gluttons for punishment"?

Riddle me this -- how about all those women who stay in an abusive relationship? You know, all the ones that are not abused because of religious beliefs. I believe the current "wisdom" is people in abusive relationships - men and women - stay because they have bought into the guff that they deserve the abuse. Like any other belief, they must first decide they do not deserve the abuse before they can leave it.

-- I feel so much better since I stopped trying to believe.

"We are entitled to our own opinions. We're not entitled to our own facts"- Al Franken

"If death isn't sweet oblivion, I will be severely disappointed" - Ruth M.

Good point EXC. There are plenty of female muslims here that practice their beliefs of their own volition. Are they... "gluttons for punishment"?

Riddle me this -- how about all those women who stay in an abusive relationship? You know, all the ones that are not abused because of religious beliefs. I believe the current "wisdom" is people in abusive relationships - men and women - stay because they have bought into the guff that they deserve the abuse. Like any other belief, they must first decide they do not deserve the abuse before they can leave it.

Dunno...

I'm too busy wishing my current GF was physically abusive to care atm. And sure enough, my pants are having difficulty breathing, just thinking about having a violent, sexually sadistic wife.

(I'll give you a more serious answer after certain TMI details are taken care of )

“A meritocratic society is one in which inequalities of wealth and social position solely reflect the unequal distribution of merit or skills amongst human beings, or are based upon factors beyond human control, for example luck or chance. Such a society is socially just because individuals are judged not by their gender, the colour of their skin or their religion, but according to their talents and willingness to work, or on what Martin Luther King called 'the content of their character'. By extension, social equality is unjust because it treats unequal individuals equally.” "Political Ideologies" by Andrew Heywood (2003)

Good point EXC. There are plenty of female muslims here that practice their beliefs of their own volition. Are they... "gluttons for punishment"?

Riddle me this -- how about all those women who stay in an abusive relationship? You know, all the ones that are not abused because of religious beliefs. I believe the current "wisdom" is people in abusive relationships - men and women - stay because they have bought into the guff that they deserve the abuse. Like any other belief, they must first decide they do not deserve the abuse before they can leave it.

Dunno...

I'm too busy wishing my current GF was physically abusive to care atm. And sure enough, my pants are having difficulty breathing, just thinking about having a violent, sexually sadistic wife.

(I'll give you a more serious answer after certain TMI details are taken care of )

It was TMI in the first sentence, Kap. ewwwww..........

-- I feel so much better since I stopped trying to believe.

"We are entitled to our own opinions. We're not entitled to our own facts"- Al Franken

"If death isn't sweet oblivion, I will be severely disappointed" - Ruth M.

Naughty boys deserve to be spanked! (or slapped, in my case- I never cared for spanking myself)

“A meritocratic society is one in which inequalities of wealth and social position solely reflect the unequal distribution of merit or skills amongst human beings, or are based upon factors beyond human control, for example luck or chance. Such a society is socially just because individuals are judged not by their gender, the colour of their skin or their religion, but according to their talents and willingness to work, or on what Martin Luther King called 'the content of their character'. By extension, social equality is unjust because it treats unequal individuals equally.” "Political Ideologies" by Andrew Heywood (2003)